Rabbi Moshe Reiss
My
colleague Spengler noted in his May 10 column The pope, the musicians
and the Jews that Benedict XVI might be the most innovative pope in
many a year by looking backward. [He called him] "a preserver in a dark
age"; an intriguing definition of "innovative". I have, on the other
hand, written my concern that the pope may become an inquisitor. One of
the first announcements made after his installation was his firing of
the editor-in-chief of the Jesuit magazine America, Father Thomas Reese
(I wonder if we are related?). He apparently wrote or approved some
articles not too favorable to [Benedict's] Church. That is not a good
sign.
Spengler also noted that Pope Pius XII was a "captive" of Hitler, a
well known fact. Does Benedict intend to follow on making him Saint
Pius XII so that good Catholics can pray for his intervention?
Spengler's joke about the Jews and the musicians causing world problems
was wonderful - "Why the musicians?" ask the storm troopers. The Jew
asks, "Why the Jews?" Benedict, in 1985, finally allowed Mozart to be
played in the Vatican; so he finally got the Joke. Was Mozart removed
from the index of forbidden works at the same time? Mozart is as
immoral as the Song of Songs; if it were not canonized it would surely
be forbidden.
Spengler noted, "If the Vatican addressed large communities of
observant Jews in Poland, for example, its message would resonate with
the heavens." Since, as the pope, Benedict can speak infallibly - like
God - can he raise the 6 million dead Jews, and then we can hear his
message here on Earth? I would just as soon wait for my home in heaven,
if that is where I go. But then as Spengler notes, "Benedict XVI will
find exegesis of the Hebrew Bible less challenging than dealing with a
people that actually speaks biblical Hebrew." His predecessors, John
XXIII and John Paul II, accepted some responsibility for Jewish deaths.
Do you, Spengler, believe this celibate pope who fosters celibacy can
repopulate Europe? If he worried less about cohabitation and celibacy
and not at all about forbidding condoms he might do some good. But then
in this area he has no experience. Perhaps if priests were not celibate
they would understand something about cohabitation and the repopulation
of Europe.
Do you believe he can convert the Muslims in Europe - according to
Bernard Lewis they are likely to be a majority in Europe by the end of
this century? I recently lectured a group of English and American
Evangelical Christian Zionists in Jerusalem. The leader of this group
wrote a book about the "fact" that Muslims world wide "will" soon
convert to Christianity (Christine Darg, Signs and Wonders in the
Muslim World), she was kind enough to give me an autographed copy. It
is possible that my history of the Holy Inquisition [The pope or the
inquisitor? May 6] makes me worry more about inquisitors?
Rabbi Moshe Reiss (May 12, '05)
VE [Victory in Europe] Day 60 years later: I remember being at my
grandmother's and grandfather's on the East side of Manhattan, New
York, full of Jews, most escaped from Europe. There was a huge Nazi
flag in the street and people were jumping on it, spitting on it. The
happiness was amazing to a six-year-old child. A month ago I was on
Normandy, Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword and Gold beaches [in France].
General [Dwight D] Eisenhower named them - despite French fussiness
about their language, they are still called by those names. My Uncle
Mikey was on Omaha Beach, where 10,000 American soldiers died in
several days. He is still alive today at 94 years of age. I was with my
grandson Benjamin; he had a granduncle on Sword Beach [who] also
survived. They still have, as monuments, the German bunkers, monstrous
guns and traps on the beaches.
Seeing the beaches and the arms, you understand why so many Allied
troops died. There is a mountain with a steep, almost vertical-degree
hill where 250 American Rangers climbed. Almost 200 died. The Rangers
took the mountain. These young men knew they were going to die. The
French gave this hill to the Americans forever. It is quite different
than seeing Saving Private Ryan the movie. Despite the death and gore
in the movie, this was real. You can see how many miles the Germans
could see - all they needed was ammunition, it was like shooting in a
barrel. It was a warm spring day; some people where swimming. I could
not stop being cold.
Fifty million of God's children died of all religions and all ethnic
groups; not including its prologue World War I. Can we all pray, never
again.
Rabbi Moshe Reiss (May 11, '05)